Lighting device for lamps



(No Model.) v Q L. A. ROBERTS 81; T. H. WATTS.

LIGHTING DEVICE FOR LAMPS. I

No. 429,642. Pate-nIedJune 10, 1890 CZ M 12 v $5 4 attozne o seams PETERS co., Panto-unit, WASNXNGTON, n. c

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEWIS A. ROBERTS, OF CARBONDALE, AND THOMAS H. IVATTS, OF SORAN- TON, PENNSYLVANIA.

LIGHTING DEVICE FOR LAMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 429,642, dated June 10, 1890.

Application filed December 18, 1889- Serial No. 334,171. (No model.)

T0 on whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, LEWIS A. ROBERTS, of Carbondale, and THOMAS H. WATTS, of Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennyslvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improved Lighting Device for Lamps; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Our invention has for its object to improve the construction of the lighting device for which Letters Patent No.414,889 were issued .to us on the 12th day of November, 1889; and

it consists in certain novel details of construction, which we will first describe, and then point out particularly in the claims at the end of this specification.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a lanternlamp embodying our invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same on the line a: 00, Fig. 4; Fig. 3, a detail sectional view on the line 2 y, Fig. 4; Fig. 4, a top plan view; Fig. 5, a view of a modified formof frictionplate.

Similar letters of reference in the several figures indicate the same parts.

In the former patented appliance referred to it was necessary that the rod bearing the ignitor-holder should be rotated so as to bring the ignitor against the friction-surface and then be raised so as to bring the ignitor in proximity to the wick. In our present device we have improved upon this by inclining the friction-surface at an angle to the plane in which the ignitor-holder normally stands to a point in proximity to the wick, so that by simply turning the holder the ignitor will not only be moved across the said friction-surface and lighted, but will at the same time be automatically raised by the inclination of the friction-surface so as to bring it into position to light the wick.

In order that a proper amount of friction between the ignitor and the friction-surface may be secured, we apply a spring to the rod upon which the holder is mounted, preferably at the lower end of the rod, which spring, as

the ignitor moves up the inclined frictionsurface, becomes compressed, and thus pre serves the necessary intimacy of contact, and, when the wick has been lighted, further 5 5 serves to bring the rod and holder back to first position.-

The friction-surface may be made in the form of a single or of a double incline, the latter form affording the advantage of enabling the lighting to be done automatically, whether the rod and holder be turned to the right or to the left.

The spring employed is preferably of volute or conical form,so that when compressed its coils maybe inclosed one within the other, and thus occupy a minimum amount of space, while allowing of, the maximum amount of movement to the rod and holder. 4

In the former patented device the holder for the ignitor consisted of a series of tubular arms united at the center, and was comparatively expensive to make; but we now make the holder of a single piece of sheet metal formed or struck upso as to constitute sockets for receiving the ignitors and provided with a central aperture to enable the supporting-shaft to be put through and riveted.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

A represents the body of the lantern-lamp; B, the wick-tube; O, the wick; E, the vertical rod of the lighting attachment; F, a tube extending through the lamp and through which the rod E passes. G is the holder for the ignitors; H, the volute spring on the lower end of the rod; I, a ring in the lower end of the rod, which serves to keep the spring in place and as a handle for turningthe rod, and K is the inclined friction-surface by which the ignitor is lighted and directed up- 9 ward in proximity to the wick when the holder is turned.

The holder G, it will be observed, is formed of a single piece of sheet metal and has arms 9 andstruck-up sockets g for holding the ignitors. It has also a central aperture for receiving the upper end of the rod E, the union being made permanent by riveting down or upsetting the end of the rod, as will be readily understood.

The friction-surface may be constructed of a single incline, as shown in Figs. 1 to 4, in-

clusive; or it may consist of a double incline, as shown in Fig. 5. L are the ignitors.

To light the lamp, it is only necessary to turn the rod by means of the ring or handle in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l, whereupon one of the ignitors will be rubbed across the friction-surface K and lighted, and by the inclination of such surface raised sufficiently to bring its burning end sufliciently close to the wick to light the latter. The continued movement of the holder causes the ignitorlto run off the upper end of the friction-surface and permits the spring to assert itself and draw down the holder and rod to first position.

\Vhere a double incline, such as shown in Fig. 5, is employed, the rod and holder may be rotated in either direction; but the action of the parts is otherwise the same.

The appliance like the previously-patented one enables the lamp to be lighted without removing it from its supports and the match or other ignitor is not exposed to side winds or other external influences.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new is- 1. In a lighting device for lamps, the combination, with a rotatable and vertically-movable holder for the ignitor, of an inclined friction-surface for simultaneously igniting and raising the ignitor when the holder is rotated, substantially as described.

2. In a lighting device for lamps, the combination, with a rotatable and vertically-movable holder for the ignitor, of an inclined friction-surface with which the ignitor 00- operates, and the spring for retracting the holder when raised, substantially as described.

3. In a lighting device for lamps, the combination, with a rotatable and vertically-movable holder for the ignitor, of a double-inclined friction-surface for co-operating with the ignitor, substantially as described.

4. In a lighting device for lamps, the combination of the rotatable holder, its rods, the retracting-spring applied to said rod, and the inclined friction-surface, substantially as described.

5. In a lighting device for lamps, the combination, with the vertical rod, of the ignitorholder consisting of the plate having a central aperture and provided with the arms and struck-up sockets, substantially as described.

6. In a lighting device for lamps, the vertical rod, the holder at the upper end of the same, the ring or handle at the lower end thereof, the volute or conical retractingspring, in combination with theinclined f riction-surface, substantially as described.

LEWIS A. ROBERTS. THOMAS II. IVATTS. itnesses:

F. L. HrroHoooK, G. KEAR. 

